Kevin McCarthy (right) defeated 9 other players and captured 1st place at this month’s 12th Man Sports Grill Tournament. Other finalists included (left to right) Adam Higgins (4th), Doug Maisells (3rd) and Marco Anisimow (2nd).
It was two years ago this month that the IFPA was resurrected, and our goal of getting competitive pinball back out into the mainstream is definitely heading in the right direction. Media opportunities continue to pour in following the IFPA 5 World Pinball Championship, and we are taking full advantage to spread the word.
April saw another increase (9%) in our player base from 2256 players on April 1st to 2448 players on May 1st.
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Biggest movers during April included Darin Nowak moving up 1123 spots from his 1st place finish at the Polish Pinball Championships. Jochen Schumacher moved up 1019 spots from his victory at the Burgstaller Pinball Tournament in Germany. Dorian Exner also jumped 869 spots by qualifying for the finals at this year’s German Pinball Open.
Upcoming events in May include the Pinball Wizards Convention in Pennsylvania, I Campeonato de Pinballs Ciudad de Silla in Spain, the Pinballers Anonymous Monster Meet in the UK, and the Funspot Classic Video and Pinball Tournament in New Hampshire.
Fresh off his World Championship victory last month, Bowen Kerins (left) captured another victory besting out Jory Rabinovitz (middle) in the finals of the P3 Tournament at Allentown. Other finalists included Steve Bowden (right – 3rd) and Ed Zeltmann (4th).
Between players needing to make flights and the show needing to close down, Neil Shatz, Josh Sharpe, Keith Elwin and Donavan Stepp decided to call it a draw at this year’s Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown. Players qualified on both Spider-Man and Wheel of Fortune with the top 16 players advancing to the final round. Neil defeated Josh in the finals of the winner’s bracket, while Keith and Donavan advanced to the semifinals of the loser’s bracket. To determine who took what trophy home, one 4-player game of Wheel of Fortune was played. Neil finished 1st, with Josh 2nd, Keith 3rd and Donavan 4th.
Sean O’Neill (inside left) defeated 37 other players, capturing first place at this year’s Rochester Gameroom Show P3 tournament. Other finalists included Sean Grant (2nd – inside right), Trent Augenstein (3rd – right) and Ed Zeltmann (4th – left).
The top 8 qualifiers on Stern’s Wheel of Fortune battled in a best of 5 single elimination tournament with Trent Augenstein (middle) defeating Josh Sharpe (right) three games to one. Zach Sharpe (left) finished 3rd, but also took 1st place in the Classics division.
More info here: http://www.nwpinballshow.com/
Featuring the following Stern machines:
Elvis
WPPR Points available:
1st place – 25 points
2nd place – 15 points
3rd place – 10 points
4th place – 5 points
Qualify for finals (top 50%) – 1 point
Participated in tournament – .25 points
IFPA 5 is now behind us, and we have our first IFPA World Champion in 14 years, Bowen Kerins. With the victory, Bowen also moved into the #1 spot, knocking Keith Elwin out of it for the first time in the history of the World Pinball Player Rankings. The 2008 season is definitely now in full swing, so look for the top 25 to change throughout the upcoming months. March saw another increase in our player base from 2105 players in March to 2256 players in April
Biggest movers during March included Jason Helton moving up 1210 spots from his 2nd place finish in the Fairfax Pinball Open in Virginia. Luiz Serpa moved up 919 spots based on his 3rd place finish at the Brazilian Pinball Tournament. Henrik Niinimäki also jumped 919 spots from his performance at the IFPA 5 World Pinball Championship in Las Vegas.
After 30 hours of play over 3 days, Bowen Kerins (inside left) defeated Neil Shatz (inside right) along with 62 other finalists to earn the title of IFPA World Pinball Champion. Other top finishers included Keith Elwin (3rd – right) and Andrei Massenkoff (4th – left).
Bowen defeated Neil 4 games to 1 to take home the crown. More details and pictures to come later as we are in the middle of closing down the tournament. Congrats to Bowen . . . the first IFPA World Champion in 14 years! Thanks to all the participants and our sponsors for making this possible.
| Rank | Name | Points |
| 1 | Jason Zahler | 3073.55 |
| 2 | Escher Lefkoff | 2940.84 |
| 3 | Zach McCarthy | 2864.92 |
| 4 | Arvid Flygare | 2544.55 |
| 5 | Viggo Löwgren | 2479.46 |
| 6 | Raymond Davidson | 2244.63 |
| 7 | Timber Engelbeen | 2068.19 |
| 8 | Jared August | 2057.14 |
| 9 | Paul Englert | 1987.41 |
| 10 | Johannes Ostermeier | 1932.60 |
| 11 | Daniele Celestino Acciari | 1909.85 |
| 12 | Gregory Kennedy | 1853.21 |
| 13 | Derek Thomson | 1812.17 |
| 14 | Luke Nahorniak | 1747.17 |
| 15 | Eric Stone | 1699.59 |
| 16 | Neil Graf | 1687.30 |
| 17 | Jack Slovacek | 1679.07 |
| 18 | Dalton Ely | 1645.02 |
| 19 | Peter Andersen | 1557.05 |
| 20 | Bowen Kerins | 1549.41 |
| 21 | Carlos Delaserda | 1538.28 |
| 22 | Tim Hansen | 1520.01 |
| 23 | Germain Mariolle | 1497.02 |
| 24 | Josh Sharpe | 1495.12 |
| 25 | Cayle George | 1463.76 |
Carlos Delaserda
Columbus, United States
